Special Lecture

Gita Wirjawan Delivered Platinum Lecture and Signed MoU at SolBridge

On Wednesday, November 8, 2017, SolBridge
International School of Business was honored to host Gita Wirjawan, a prominent
personality from Indonesia.

On his visit, Mr. Wirjawan delivered a Platinum
Lecture entitled “Entrepreneurship in a Changing World” that encouraged the
students to broaden their horizon and consider Southeast Asia, particularly
Indonesia, as a get-go point for starting up a business. Supported by empirical
data, Mr. Wirjawan showed the attendees how Southeast Asia will be able to play
in the same league as China in contributing to the world’s economy. “Business
should have a social dimension, it means your business must be able to focus on
solving a particular problem” as Mr. Wirjawan cited MAFGA, which stands for Microsoft,
Apple, Facebook, Google, and Amazon, as leading examples of this kind of
business.

Being an entrepreneur himself, not only did Mr.
Wirjawan experience establishing his own businesses, but he was also a
statesman and a notable corporate leader. His extensive track record includes
being the Vice President at Goldman Sachs, President Director at JP Morgan, and
Indonesia’s former Minister of Trade. Additionally, he was also a Presidential
candidate in 2014 election in Indonesia. However, his expertise does not cover
only in business and economy aspects, but also in academics. Currently, Mr.
Wirjawan is a member of the advisory board of the Institute for Societal
Leadership at Singapore Management University and previously, he served on the
Dean’s Leadership Council at the Harvard Kennedy School.

“Countries in Southeast Asia may have problems, but
problems come with opportunities”, said Mr. Wirjawan about Indonesia, Vietnam,
and Thailand. Therefore, on that note, Woosong University, as represented by
Dr. John. E. Endicott, signed an agreement with Mr. Wirjawan as the Chairman of
his company, Ancora. The collaboration establishes future academic cooperation
with Mr. Wirjawan’s educational foundation and also includes receiving student
interns from Woosong University, including SolBridge International School of
Business to contribute to his companies. The collaboration between both will hopefully
bring more students closer to opportunities in Southeast Asia.